Background: Most paediatric oncology studies concur that being parents of a child with cancer is an emotionally stressful event. Although an increasing number of studies have investigated psychological stress of parents of a child with cancer, few of these studies have included both parents or investigated any differences between the mothers and the fathers. Moreover, studies published over the last few decades have been limited to Western countries and have shown inconsistent findings about parental perceived stress whose children have cancer. This study explored gender differences in perceived stress in couples parenting a child with cancer in Jordan. A parallel QUAN + qual mixed methods design was employed.

Quantitative methods: This phase involved a survey of 300 couples parenting a child with cancer. Participants answered the Arabic version of the Perceived Stress Scale 10-items, demographic and characteristics check list questionnaires. The main aims of this phase were to measure perceived stress levels for mothers and fathers, explore the predictors associated with high perceived stress levels and make a comparison between them.

Quantitative findings: Mothers reported significantly higher stress levels than fathers. Some of the factors associated with mothers and fathers high stress levels affected both parents whereas employment status affected only fathers’ stress levels.

Qualitative methods: The qualitative phase used semi-structured interviews of 12 mothers and 12 fathers parenting a child with cancer in Jordan. The main aims of this phase were to offer some information to describe and explain some of the quantitative findings.

Qualitative findings: In the interviews, mothers and fathers admitted that the time of knowing the diagnosis was the most stressful time for them. Most mothers admitted that being with the ill child most of the time and therefore away from other healthy children, relatives and friends were the main cause of stress. However, most fathers said that employment status and financial burden was the main cause of stress after their child’s health status. Most of the interviewed couples commented on that that they were sharing the life situation with their partners, helping and supporting each other to overcome the situation.

Conclusions: These findings indicate the need to work with the mothers and the fathers with a child with cancer in Jordan to recognise their psychological needs at the time of diagnosis and followed by ongoing psychological support for both parents.

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